


Honest by The Neighbourhood

by heinoelena



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Asexual Character, Asexual Jughead Jones, F/F, Fluff, Jarchie - Freeform, M/M, Non-binary character, Other, beronica
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-11 04:29:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10454967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heinoelena/pseuds/heinoelena
Summary: Jughead hasn't been completely honest with Archie nor has he been honest with himself.





	1. I hope you find a way to be yourself someday, in weakness or in strength

**Author's Note:**

> LISTEN TO THE SONG IN THE TITLE IT FITS THIS FIC PERFECTLY thank you :)
> 
> oh and English isn't my first language sorry for all the mistakes

Jughead Jones stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom of Pop's. He looked himself in the eyes and then turned around. He couldn't understand why Archie ever started dating him, there was literally nothing dateable in him. The door opening distracted him from hating himself.

It was Veronica. "Oh, hi?" Jughead looked terrified. "Eh, hey."

"What on earth are you doing in the women's bathroom, Jug?" She chuckled.

"I- I accidentally came here instead of the men's room, sorry," he then excused himself out of the room. He had been so stupid. So, so stupid. He should've gone to the men's bathroom but no, he decided it was a good idea to go to ladies' room.

When he was out of the room, in the diner again, he put a smile back on his face and went to the booth where Betty and Archie were sitting. "Took you long enough to come back", Archie smiled and put an arm around Jughead when he sat down. "Yeah, there were quite a lot of people there." Archie and Betty both knew that wasn't true, there were never  _that_ much people in Pop's. Nevertheless they started talking about how summer vacation was about to end and they had to go to school again. Jughead didn't say anything but he nodded every once in a while to show that he was listening to them. Soon Veronica came back and looked Jughead in the eyes with a look that said 'we need to talk'. 

 

That is how he ended up in the Lodge residence. "Juggie, I know that it wasn't an accident." Jughead didn't know what to say. He just looked around the Lodges' kitchen and tried to figure out what to respond. "Fine, don't talk. Just, let me tell you something," Veronica continued. She gave him a cup of tea and started speaking.

"You know you can tell us anything and we won't share it with anyone else unless it's okay with you, right? Because if you didn't, now you do. We all, me, Betty and Archie, especially Archie, want only the best for you. He's been so worried about you. He's told us that you have been acting... not weird but a bit off for a while now and he has no idea what to do or say or if he shouldn't do anything at all."

Jughead nodded, "I know, Veronica. I know." "So, what is it?" she looked at him with a warm smile.

He wasn't sure if he should tell her or not. They weren't that close but she had helped with some stuff no one even knew had happened. "Jughead, you lived with us for months, I think you can tell me." She was right, he could tell her but he didn't know what her reaction would be. He nodded again. 

"Promise me you won't freak out?" he wanted to make sure she wouldn't punch him in the face. Now it was Veronica's turn to nod, "I promise."

Jughead had to mentally prepare himself, physically too. His hands were shaking and he started tapping the table to stop them from doing that. His breath sped up a little bit but he manged to get a hold of himself.

"Okay, so. The thing is Veronica, believe me or not but it turns out I'm not as much of a boy as I thought I was. I always just assumed I was male but that I've thought about for a few months and I've come to the conclusion that I, in fact, am non-binary." He was silent, Veronica was silent. Until she spoke up, "So that means you like, have no gender?" Jughead wasn't sure if she was okay with it or not, "Well, technically yeah." She looked at the table for a while, then she just smiled. She smiled that smile everyone who knew her knew meant that she was happy.

"I am actually so proud of you right now Jughead," she continued smiling, "but that still doesn't explain why you were in the women's bathroom." Jughed snorted, "It does, kind of. You know that I, in a sense, don't have gender but I do have days when I feel more feminine and days when I feel more masculine. There is also days when I feel like neither or both. And today is one of those days I feel more feminine and I just kind of, accidentally walked straight to the women's bathroom so I wasn't completely bullshitting you when I told you it was an accident."

She looked like she understood what he was talking about. She stood up and motioned him to stand up too. When he did, she hugged him. She squeezed him and asked, "So, do you want us to call you by different pronouns on different days or what?" They pulled away and he looked straight into Veronica's eyes.

"No, it's okay if you call me he and him," he paused for a moment, "but if it's not too much trouble, you can call me they and them when we're alone. I haven't told the others, as you know and I want to do it at some point but not just yet."

 

And that is how he came out as non-binary to Veronica Lodge, the girlfriend of Betty Cooper who he had no idea knew that much about gender and sex.


	2. I wish you could honest, I wish you could be honest with me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead tells Archie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HOPE YOU ENJOY READING THIS I enjoyed writing it
> 
> and also; please leave comments so I'll know if it's good or not, if there's anything I can improve or do to make this story better

Jughead and Archie were lying on Archie's bed, Jughead's head on his boyriend's chest. Archie reached for Jughead's hand, "You know you're really important to me and that I love you?" The other looked at him and smiled, a genuine smile.

Ever since Archie and Jughead had started dating, the former had reminded him of how amazing he was, he still couldn't quite believe it.

"Yeah, I do," Jughead continued smiling and looked at his hands, how Archie was playing with his fingers. "I love you too."

Archie's hand moved from Jughead's fingers to his hair and started stroking it. "Arch, you know how I've been acting a bit... weird, lately? It's because of something important and it's quite a big deal to me."

There was a mixed look of confusion and worry on Archie's face, "Yeah. Everything is okay, though? Right?"

Jughead chuckled nervously, "Yes, everything is alright, it's just, just that I- I have something I want to tell you," he swallowed. Tears were prickling in the back of his eyes. He stood up and told Archie to sit up straight too. Archie made a funny little comment how he wasn't even close to straight but when Jughead only nodded he knew this thing his boyfriend was about to tell was serious.

"Enough of the emotional crap, Jug, get your shit together," he told himself and wiped his eyes.

The boy sitting on the bed took his hand in his and held it, just held it tightly. "Juggie, baby, what is it?" Jughead took a deep breath and let it all out, "I've already started talking so I might as well just spit it out. I'm not exactly a boy, I am non-binary. Shortly and easily explained; I- I don't have a specific gender," he burst and waited for Archie to take it all in.

"Please don't hate me." Archie motioned Jughead to sit next to him on his bed. Then he smiled. It was that warm and welcoming smile that made him forget all of his troubles. "Juggie, you know, I thought it was going to be something bad and now you're telling me this, I'm so happy."

That sentence made Jughead slung his arms around Archie's neck. 'Thank you's and 'I love you's were whispered many times during the hug. "There's nothing you need to thank me about, baby."

At this moment, Jughead knew Archie did really care for him.

He didn't need to worry about him breaking up with him because of something like this. He knew he accepted him the way he is.

After sitting and hugging on the bed for a good twenty minutes Archie got up to get them both tea.

While Archie was downstairs, Jughead lay on his bed. Head on the pillow, fidgeting with his beanie which he had - for once - taken off.

The gray, crown-like beanie was laying on his stomach until the other boy came to his own room and put their teas on the table.

Archie took the beanie and put it on, "How do I look?" He striked a pose. Jughead started laughing and got up as well.

"Eh, fine, I guess. Not exactly your style."

"What do you mean not my style? This is exactly my style," Archie insisted, looking extremely ridiculous.

Jughead tried to snatch the beanie from Archie but failed, miserably. His boyfriend started running towards the stairs that led to the first floor, "Catch me if you can," he dared.

"I'm not running. I, Jughead Jones, do not so sports, in any situation."

He took a sweater from the redhead's closet and pulled it over his head. Then he went downstairs behind Archie.

"Come on, give me my beanie back," he smiled, it was the puppy eyes smile, "please."

Archie couldn't resist that smile. He smiled right back at him. Then he put his hands on his hips and pressed his lips onto his forehead.

Then they moved to his cheeks.

Then on the corners of his mouth.

There was left his lips and he kissed him.

Jughead wrapped his arms around Archie's neck and kissed him back. The latter tried to deepen the kiss by turning his head a bit and cupping Jughead's cheeks but he stopped him, "Archie- Arch, no. I just, sorry."

"It's fine." He understood. When he had find out Jughead was asexual he had been a bit shocked but he accepted it, right away. It wasn't that big of a deal.

The way he find out, on the other hand, was quite awkward but sweet after all.

_They were in a tent, close to Sweetwater River. The whole thing had come as a surprise to Jughead. He was about to start reading when Archie had asked him to listen to him and told him he swings both ways and has feelings for him._

_He was so nervous he wouldn't like him back but when Jughead kissed him he knew that it wasn't true._

_But when Archie had tried to take it to the next level by trying to unzip Jughead's jeans, the latter pulled away and looked into his eyes, "I'm sorry, I can't."_

_Archie had been so confused, he had no idea what was going on. "What is happening? Am I doing something wrong?"_

_Jughead looked so horrified and moved closer to Archie. "No, you're not doing anything wrong. Everything is perfect."_

_Archie's face relaxed a little, "Okay, so wha- what is it?"_

_Jughead looked straight into his eyes and said, "Arch, do you know what asexual means? It means that I have no sexual desire towards anyone... Well I can but it's rare."_

_"Okay," he said after a while. Jughead looked amazed, he wasn't expecting this reaction out of him._

_"That's all? You're not going to call me weird or a freak for not having sexual feelings towards anyone?"_

_Archie burst out laughing, which was a bit odd since he had just moments ago looked very serious, "Of course not, it's totally normal. And for your information, I did know what asexual meant before you told me," a smile still prominent on his face after laughing. Jughead was relieved, he was happy that he had at least one person in his life who accepted him._

_Jughead pulled the duvet over them and told Archie good night. Archie pulled him close, so he nuzzled his face into Archie's neck._

_"Good night, Jug."_

Their quiet moment was broken when Archie's phone went off. Jughead rolled his eyes and went upstairs to get their teas. 

They weren't as hot as Jughead would've liked his tea but it was okay. He went back downstairs and found Archie speaking on the phone to Betty. When he noticed Jughead his face lit up with excitement, "Hey, Betty asked us to come over, do you want to go?"

Then he put his hand over the microphone, "We don't have to go if you don't want to." Jughead chuckled, "We can go, it's going to be fun."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading this!!
> 
> ALSO;;;;; I DECIDED TO MAKE JUGHEAD ASEXUAL AFTER ALL BECAUSE YAAAAAS


	3. Change can be amazing, so I pray for the best, I pray for the best for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead tells the others, with a little help from Veronica and Archie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know
> 
> I may have rushed this, I should've thought about this more but oh well, maybe I'll rewrite this sometime in the future
> 
> I know this is a bit tacky but I'll get there with practice
> 
> I'll continue writing Jarchie
> 
> AND YES I TOTALLY FORGOT ARCHIE AND BETTY ARE NEIGHBOURS don't ask how BUT WHOOPS they live a few houses from each other so it's not that bad

As soon as they drank their teas, Archie and Jughead were out of the door, walking towards Betty's house where Veronica, Reggie, Kevin, Chuck and of course Betty herself, were waiting.

Archie had asked Jughead, in an awkward way, what he would like Archie to call him. His boyfriend or his 'sweetheart'? When Archie had said sweetheart, Jughead had laughed, "Boyfriend is totally cool, although, I would like it, if you used they and them, it makes me more comfortable." "Of course, baby."

Archie had also linked their hands just moments before they reached the Coopers' door. The redhead sighed. Jughead adjusted his beanie and when he heard the boy next to him sigh, he asked, "What is it?"

Archie knew him so well. He could see he was nervous as hell and that he wasn't sure if he was ready to tell the others. "You know you don't have to do this now? You can just chill, there is no need to rush this, take your time." At this point, Archie had turned to Jughead and they were looking into each others' eyes.

"Yes, Archie. I know but I want to do this. I _need_ to do this. If I don't do it now, I will probably just chicken out every time I try to do it," Jughead looked at the ground after saying this. He knew he _would_ chicken out if he didn't tell them now.

Archie rang the doorbell, "Okay," he simply said. Soon enough Veronica was answering the door. There was a big smile plastered on her face, "Juggie, Archiekins!" They were about to come in when Veronica stopped them. "Wait, did you tell Archie? Does he know? Are you going to tell us now? Well, the rest."

Jughead was surprised by the load of questions but grinned and nodded. The dark haired girl squealed and ran to the living room where the rest of the group were watching a movie, a goddamn Tarantino movie. At that sight, Jughead got excited, "Finally you're watching an actual good film and not some shitty high school romance movie."

All of them exchanged hi's and hello's and Veronica looked like he was about to burst. Archie looked her straight into her eyes with a look that said 'no, you're not going to say anything until they do it themselves'. So, she didn't.

While the credits were rolling, Archie's eyes were fighting against closing and his arm was around Jughead. He hadn't been sleeping that good lately because of his worries about Jughead but now he didn't have to worry about them anymore. Jughead told him and was okay.

Veronica was sitting in Betty's lap on the sofa, Kevin and Chuck sat next to each other on the other sofa and then there was Reggie. He was sitting in the armchair on the opposite side of the room to Jughead and Archie. 

His arms were resting in his lap and eyes closed, he didn't watch half of the movie because it was 'so boring', according to him. 

Jughead made sure no one was looking and gave Archie a peck on his cheek. Archie startled at the sudden touch on his cheek. When he realised it was Jughead, he smiled a content smile. Jughead squeezed their boyfriend's hand before clearing their throat, "I'd like everyone to get everyone's attention."

They muttered "well, I wouldn't _like_ it but it would be good if I still had it," under their breath and only Archie heard it. 

Veronica's face lit up suddenly and she clapped her hands together. Betty's face was confused and he asked Veronica what was going on to which her girlfriend answered, "You'll see."

Reggie was awake too, curiously and carefully listening to what Jughead had to say. Kevin looked excited, almost as excited as Veronica. Chuck just kind of sat there, in the middle of everyone.

"I've already told Archie and Veronica this and I thought that the rest of you should know too." Archie squeezed their hand, "You can do it," he whispered. Jughead nodded, "Yes, I can, indeed." They took a couple of deep breaths before speaking. "I am non-binary. And I know, for a fact that at least one person in this room," he looked at Reggie, "doesn't know what that means so I will tell you."

Archie continued smiling, really, it was a miracle his face hadn't cracked yet from smiling. Veronica's face was priceless, she looked like a proud mother. Betty was still confused but tried to smile. Kevin was surprised but not angry. Chuck looked the same as Kevin. Reggie on the other hand, looked a bit weirded out.

"So what will we call you?" Reggie asked. His face was stiffened and he looked a bit disgusted. "By my name, Jughead, for example?" Jughead answered. They had always wondered how Reggie could be so thick sometimes. Reggie's face softened, "Oh yeah."

Archie stood up and hugged Jughead and whispered, "I'm so proud of you," to their ear. Jughead didn't like showing affection in public much. But in this group of friends, they were comfortable with it. They didn't care if the others could see them.

Jughead hugged Archie back. Aww's echoed in the room and every single person in the room was happy. At the moment, Jughead was probably the happiest, though. 

Kevin got up and raised his voice so everyone would hear him, "I have an announcement; I am gay." Everyone burst out laughing. Even Reggie.

They talked. They talked about Pulp Fiction, much to Jughead's delight. Jughead told them to use they/them pronouns.

When everyone was leaving, Reggie pulled Jughead to the side, leaving Archie and the others to say good bye's.

"Look, I know I have always been a total ass to you. I really don't know why. But I will change, okay? I'm going to try my best. Don't tell anyone I said this but you're actually a pretty cool guy after getting to know you better," then he slapped his hand over his mouth. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I didn't even realise."

"Realise what?" Jughead teased. Reggie looked at them apologically, "I just called you a guy." Jughead pretended to look shocked and offended, "I can't believe you just did that! I am triggered as fuck now, I am unable to talk to you ever again." And that's when Reggie realised Jughead was just fucking with him.

"But seriously, if you ever tell anyone I said you're cool, I will kill you," he said deadpan. They looked at each other for a while and burst out laughing, "Yeah yeah, sure you will," Jughead managed to say between the laughs.

Reggie left too and Archie asked Jughead what he wanted from his boyfriend. "He just apologised, that's all. He said he would try to change." That surprised Archie, "Oh, okay. Good. I thought he was annoying you or something." "Nah," Jughead said and took Archies hand in theirs.

They all, Jughead, Archie, Betty and Veronica went to Betty's kitchen and got themselves a night snack. Betty got out eggs and held them high, "Who wants omelette?" Everyone raised their hands. "Well then," the blonde girl smiled to herself as she prepared the meal. 

Archie started yawning around 8:30pm and Jughead decided it was their time to leave now. "Jug," Archie stretched out their name, "I don't want to go home yet. I want to hang out with Betty and Veronica."

Jughead shook their head, "Arch, we're going home now. No matter how much you want to hang out with them, you're tired as heck and need sleep." Archie turned his head to Jughead and pouted, "Okay okay then."

They waved at Veronica and Betty who stood at the window. Veronica behind Betty, hands wrapped around her hips and Betty's hands on hers. "Aren't they just adorable?" Archie asked and Jughead simply answered, "Yes, they are. Not as adorable as you are when you're sleepy, though."

"That was smooth, you know," Archie looked at them, "have you practiced?" 

"Maybe."

"I love you, Juggie. Very much."

"I love you too, Arch."

On the way to the Andrews residence, Jughead really realised how lucky they were. They had each other. Archie had Jughead and the other way around. They would never take the other one for granted. Their thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of Archie's hand trailing its way to Jughead's ass.

"Archie," they warned.

"Sorry," Archie chuckled, "an accident."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR READING 
> 
> like I said this was a bit too rushed but I was so eager to write this I didn't even think about it twice
> 
> this chapter, the last one, is actually my favourite, it was the nicest to write :)
> 
> Ainu

**Author's Note:**

> I AM ALL FOR ASEXUAL JUGHEAD DON'T GET ME WRONG !! there should be so much more asexual representation on tv 
> 
> but somehow I ended up liking the idea of Jarchie so here we are wHOops
> 
>  
> 
> SooooOOOO let me know what you think in the comments, you can leave kudos too if you feel like it, thank youuuuu
> 
> ALSO this is my first fan fiction about Jughead and Archie and Riverdale in general, I've written Evak (Isak Valtersen & Even Bech Næsheim from Skam) on Wattpad before, under the username @heeonia, although I haven't updated that one in ages, sowwy to all the readers
> 
> And yes, the pronouns will change but it didn't make sense to write this chapter with they/them to me, that sounds so mean, I didn't mean it to sound mean UGH I'LL JUST GO NOW
> 
> Ainu


End file.
